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Borno Govt Decries Porous Borders

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Borno Govt Decries Porous Borders

Musdapha Ilo, Maiduguri

The Borno State government says that there are over 1,000 illegal routes through which dangerous drugs are smuggled in to the state, a situation which has led to a high utilization of drugs by youths.

This, the government reasoned, has contributed to the growth of terrorism in the region.

The state attorney general and commissioner of justice, Kaka Shehu Lawan, stated this on Tuesday while making public the achievements of Borno state drug abuse control committee.

Lawan, who is also the chairman of the committee, said the challenge for the state government is that most of these routes are unknown, making it difficult to rid the state of illicit drugs.

Notwithstanding, he said that his committee has done so much with the available information at its disposal to curb the activities of illegal drug dealers and that a total of 6,089.575kg of drugs have been seized.

These includes 4,780.565 kg of Cannabis, 979,010 kg of psychotropic substances and 330.000 kg of Cocaine.
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In addition, about 61 suspects have been arrested, with 13 charged to court and convicted to various jail terms.

“Through its intelligence gathering and operations sub-committees carried out raids in areas identified as black spots within the Maiduguri metropolis where such illicit drugs are commonly dispensed and consumed. The raids accounted for several arrests as well as seizures of drugs from the suspects,” the commissioner said.

He lamented that drug abuse partly accounts for the emergence of terrorist activities in the state, but added setting up the committee was part of efforts introduced by the state governor, Kashim Shettima, to restore the state on the path of peace, and socio-economic development.

Lawan added that drug dealers and traffickers are dynamic and always evolving new strategies to beat security checks, but that government is also devising information management strategies to track and arrest them.

Finally, ASUU Calls Off Strike

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Finally, ASUU Calls Off Strike

Nma Shekwolo, Minna

The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, on Tuesday afternoon called its over five months old nationwide strike action.

The decision to call off the strike was announced by the national president of ASUU, Nasir Isa Fagge, after a meeting of the National Executive Council, NEC, of the union at the Federal University of Technology, FUT, Minna.

Fagge directed lecturers to return to classrooms and commence lectures in all public universities immediately.

“NEC resolved to suspend the strike embarked upon on the 1st July 2013, with effect from Tuesday December 17th, 2013 and directs its branches to resume work forthwith,” he said.

The ASUU president said that the decision to end the strike action was taken after consultations with the national secretariat and state chapters of the union which all accepted the agreement signed between the union and the federal government on the 11th December, 2013 with the NLC president, Abdulwahed Umar, acting as witness.

The ASUU boss assured that lecturers would try to put in an extra effort to mitigate some of the effects of the strike action and cover lost ground, even as he thanked parents and other Nigerians for understanding the union’s position and supporting it.

“We have undertaken to go back to the classroom, laboratories etc, to do our best for our students, their parents and our country. We are going back to rekindle the motivation and aspiration in our members to strive to encourage our students to excel, all in its expectation that government will sincerely honour its own part of the bargain,” he stated.

Fagge said that ASUU would facilitate the inauguration of the implementation and monitoring committee on the report of the Needs Assessment of Nigerian Universities and ensure compliance of relevant stakeholders.

He also expressed the hope that the federal government would deal promptly with areas of the agreement between the parties that require policy or legislative action in order to address some of the challenges facing public universities.

Gunfire, Explosions In South Sudan After Failed Coup Attempt

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Gunfire, Explosions In South Sudan After Failed Coup Attempt

Gunfire and explosions were heard overnight in Juba, South Sudan’s capital, where President Salva Kiir had declared a night time curfew in response to an attack on the army headquarters.

The renewed shooting followed what witnesses said was heavy gunfire that began late Sunday and had subsided by Monday afternoon.

The city’s airport has been closed and the state TV channel SSTV went off air for several hours.

Shortly after it came back on air, SSTV broadcast an address from Kiir, wearing military uniform rather than his usual civilian clothing and flanked by government officials.

He said the violence “was an attempted coup”, but that the government was now in full control and the attackers were being chased down.

The President said in the broadcast that the fighting began when unidentified uniformed personnel opened fire at a meeting of members of the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, SPLM, and was followed by an attack on army headquarters.

He said the attack on the army headquarters was carried out “by a group of soldiers allied to the former vice-president Dr Riek Machar and his group”.

Kiir, however, reiterated: “I will not allow or tolerate such incidents once again in our new nation. I strongly condemn these criminal actions in the strongest terms possible,” he said.

Some arrests have been made and the government vowed to prosecute all those responsible for the disturbance.

The American Embassy in Juba remained closed Tuesday and most cellular telephone services in the city are not working.

The U.S. State Department described the situation as very fluid and called on all parties to resolve their differences peacefully.

Spokeswoman Marie Harf said that given the history of conflict in the region, the United States is concerned that the violence could spread.

U.N. Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon is also deeply concerned by the fighting , saying the government must guarantee the security of all civilians regardless of which community they come from.

ASUU May Soon Call Off Strike Action

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ASUU May Soon Call Off Strike Action

Hours after the end of a marathon meeting, between members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, in Minna, Niger state, which lasted the whole of Monday, there are indication that lecturers might soon call off their nationwide strike action.

Although details of the outcome of the meeting are not out yet, feelers indicate that the union might have agreed to end the strike as long as government sticks to agreements recently reached with it.

The chairman of the union in University of Lagos, Karo Ogbinaka told Channels Television early Tuesday morning that another congress meeting would be held with the different chapters of ASUU on Wednesday to inform members and managements of the institutions of the latest development, in line with procedures, before a call-off is announced.

“We expect the students to resume and expect their members to go back to class immediately after the congress meeting and we expect the government to keep to the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU),” Ogninaka stated.

Monday’s meeting which had in attendance all the ASUU branch chairmen and secretaries, the national executive members of the body, coordinators and past leaders, reportedly took place at the senate building of the Federal University of Technology, FUT, Minna.

The gathering which was held away from the prying eyes of the media was to discuss the new Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, signed with the federal government last Wednesday and to reach a consensus on when the strike should be called-off and how to make up for the lost time for students.

An average semester in Nigeria Universities lasts four months, meaning that for a strike that has lasted over five months, a semester’s academic work load will have to be fitted into next year’s academic calendar to allow students graduate at the stipulated time.

The Federal Government and ASUU had reached a compromise during a negotiation brokered by the President of the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, Abdulwaheed Omar last Wednesday, which led to the signing of the MoU.

The agreement was reached barely 24 hours after the special assistant to the President on public affairs, Doyin Okupe presented a proof of payment of N200 billion into an account with the Central Bank of Nigeria for the union.

Magistrate Court Orders Exhumation Of Four Bodies For Autopsy

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Magistrate Court Orders Exhumation Of Four Bodies For Autopsy

From Jefferson Ibiwale, Benin

A Coroner Court in Benin City, has ordered that the bodies of one Samuel Imaikop, along with three labourers who were shot dead by the police on November 24 at the Benin By-Pass, Edo State, be exhumed and an autopsy be carried out on them to establish the cause of death.

The Magistrate, F.E.N. Igbinosa, who presided over the matter expressed displeasure at the refusal of the state Commissioner of police, Foluso Adebanjo to respond to the summon of the court which was served on December 12.

He ordered the police to make the bodies available for the autopsy, by way of showing the location of the burial of the corpses, adding that full medical reports of the autopsy must be made available to the court when it resumes sitting on the December 24, 2013.

The four victims were allegedly murdered by the Police who tagged them as armed robbers, but dissatisfied with this explanation, Imaikop’s family members and civil society groups had proceeded to the court to ascertain the veracity of the tale surrounding the death of the deceased.

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Counsel to the complainants, B.A. Iluobe, expressed dismay that the Police was not represented at the hearing even though he personally ensured that the summons was served on the police at the Edo State Police headquarters in Benin.

“I served the application immediately it was presented. We went with them to the police to ensure they were properly served. It is my supposition that the purpose of service is for the parties to be informed of cases against them in court, the days and time. If a party decides to abandon his case and refuse to come to court, that is a clear case of arrogance, they are not ready to defend, they don’t have a defense,” Iluobe said.

However, the Prosecutor, Ada Johnbull, an Inspector, rose in defence of the Commissioner of Police, pleading with the Court to adjourn the matter to allow the police get proper perusal of the summons and respond appropriately.

UNIBEN Emerges Centre For Reproductive Health In West Africa

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UNIBEN Emerges Centre For Reproductive Health In West Africa

From Jefferson Ibiwale, Benin

The University of Benin, UNIBEN, has received a grant from the World Bank to serve as Centre for Research for Reproductive Health Initiative, CERHI, in the West African sub region.

The university is to partner with seven universities across West Africa to give training in Reproductive Health, safe motherhood, family planning information and services, adolescent reproductive health prevention and treatment of infertility and sexual dysfunction.

The seven named institutions are University of Ibadan, Ahmadu Bello University, University of Ghana, Nigerian of Medical Research, Noguchi Memorial Institute of Medical Research, Ghana and Kwame Nkrumah University of Technology, Ghana.

The universities have pledged their support towards the project and the vice chancellor of the UNIBEN, Osayuiki Oshodin, has said that the grant would be used to strengthen research in reproductive health in the sub region.

Representative of the National University Commission, Eugene Okpere, also promised that the NUC would support the take off of the centre, challenging UNIBEN and the partnering institutions to impact positively on the nation’s health sector through the programme.

Ajudua To Face Trial for Defrauding Ishaya Bamaiyi of $8 Million

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Ajudua To Face Trial for Defrauding Ishaya Bamaiyi of $8 Million

A fresh bid by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to arraign Fred Ajudua before a Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja for a $8.39m scam, was postponed due to the failure of the accused to appear in court.

Ajudua’s counsel, Richard Ahoharuogba, told the court Monday that his client only became aware of the fresh 13-count charge on Saturday and could not attend the court session because “he is still seriously ill.”

Following his request for the adjournment of the case to enable Ajudua appear in court, Justice Oluwatoyin Ipaye postponed the matter till February 12, 2004.

Ipaye ordered that a warrant of production be served on the prison authority where Ajudua is being detained to enable him appear at the next adjourned date.

The accused is charged with offences that border on conspiracy and obtaining money by false pretence.

EFCC counsel, Seidu Atteh, told the court that Ajudua, alongside others who are still at large, defrauded a former Chief of Army Staff, Ishaya Bamaiyi, a retired lieutenant general, of about $8.395million while in detention at the Kirikiri Maximum Prisons, Lagos between November 2004 and June 2005.

Other suspects involved in the scam and who are on the run are Alumile Adedeji (a.k.a Ade Bendel), Hamabon William and one Kenneth.

Atteh told the court that Ajudua and his accomplices fraudulently collected the money from Bamaiyi in instalments, claiming that the payments represented the professional fees charged by Afe Babalola, to handle his case in court and facilitate his release from prison.

Ajudua claimed that $1million out of the money collected from Bamaiyi would be used to assist Justice Olubunmi Oyewole offset the payment of the hospital bill of his father who, he falsely claimed, was on admission at the Saint Nicholas Hospital in Lagos, for an undisclosed ailment.

Justice Oyewole was presiding over Bamaiyi’s case in court at the time.

Ajudua and one Charles Orie are already facing trial at the Lagos High Court for allegedly defrauding two Dutch businessmen, Remy Cina and Pierre Vijgen of $1.69million.

EFCC Is Broke – Secretary

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EFCC Is Broke – Secretary

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Monday in Abuja said it urgently needs capital injection for its continued operations as it currently has less than N2 million in its account.

The secretary of the Board of EFCC, Emmanuel Aremo, disclosed this at the public hearing on the Bill seeking to establish the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Agency, NFIA.

Aremo said the poor financial position of EFCC was made known to the Senate committee on Drugs, Narcotics and Financial Crimes during an oversight visit.

“If we can pay salary this month, that is all. That is the position under which we operate,” Aremo said.

Speaking against the bill, Aremo argued that the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, NFIU in the EFCC was discharging its responsibility efficiently without complaints from financial institutions, adding that if granted autonomy, the NFIU would become exposed to desperate politicians capable of securing court injunctions to frustrate its operations.

“All the NFIU needs is adequate funding to continue its work. This NFIA Bill is unnecessary and should be jettisoned,” he said.

However, the director, Legal Services, Central Bank of Nigeria, Amusa Ogundana, who represented the CBN Governor, said the apex bank supported the establishment of NFIA.

Ogundana, however, suggested that some portions of the NFIA Bill should be deleted because it imposed supervisory and regulatory functions on the agency.

“CBN is wholeheartedly in support of having this bill sail through. We believe it will strengthen the administrative and operational performance of the agency,” he said.

Also contributing to the debate, the representative of the National Drug Law and Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, Joseph Sunday, said the NFIU lacked legal status.

Sunday, who is NDLEA’s director of prosecution services, said his agency supported the bill because it would empower the NFIU to effectively disseminate financial intelligence to law enforcement agencies.

Representative of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, Blessing Egbefor, said the bill, when passed into law, would strengthen the fight against financial crimes.

“NAPTIP supports the bill, so that theNFIU can discharge its administrative and operational functions with greater autonomy,” she said.

The Nigeria Police Force, NPF, the National Intelligence Agency, NIA, Department of State Services, DSS, and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, were among other agencies that supported the bill.

Earlier, chairman, Senate committee on Drugs, Narcotics and Financial Crimes, Victor Lar, urged the stakeholders to ensure that their inputs were in the national interest.

“In the National Assembly, we are driven only by national interest and considerations. Not individual and parochial interests. You should make contributions that would serve the national interest,” he said.

The bill seeks to establish a national agency that would receive information from financial institutions for the purpose of turning such information into financial intelligence.

The agency would then analyse, assess and disseminate the financial intelligence reports to all law enforcement agencies.

Nasarawa Privatises Two State-Owned Companies

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Nasarawa Privatises Two State-Owned Companies

CAPTION: Commissioner for commerce, Emmanuel Brass Yaji, MD NIPDC, Daniel Agzegana and one of the investors.

By Godwin Ojoshimite

The Nasarawa state government has announced the privatisation of two companies – the Nasara Fertilizer Blending Company, Lafia and the Nasara Sacks & Packaging Company, Akwanga.

The handover of the firms to the new owners was done by the Nasarawa Investment and Property Development Company, NIPDC, under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Monday.

Commissioner for commerce and industry, Emmanuel Brass Yaji, said during the ceremony in Lafia, that the privatisation was to create employment for the teaming youths of the state, as well as boost its internally generated revenue.

He therefore charged the investors, Agtho Merchant and Company Limited, Abuja, and the Young Plastic Enterprises Limited, Kano, to be proactive and transparent in their dealings and keep to their part of the agreement.

In his response, the general manager of the Young Plastic Enterprise Limited, Kano, Saidu Tillam, said his company hopes to commence work immediately, in order to meet up with its own part of the deal.

Earlier, the managing director of NIPDC, Daniel Agzegana, said out of the three companies mapped out for leasing by the state government, itdecided to lease two companies as a pilot scheme, adding that the remaining company will be leased after the first quarter of 2014.

Patience Jonathan Congratulates Chilian President Elect

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Patience Jonathan Congratulates Chilian President Elect

The Nigerian First Lady, Patience Jonathan, has congratulated Michelle Bachelet, who has re-emerged President of Chile for the second time,for her resounding victory, saying it is a representation of the aspirations of women, and a demonstration of the woman’s capability to be equal partners in global developmental efforts.

“I want to commend the President of Chile for her advocacy in the areas of gender equality and women empowerment,” Jonathan said.

Bachelet was guest of the First Lady in January when she was on a working visit to Nigeria as the Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of UN Women.

Chile’s first female President, Bachelet, won the poll after clinching 62.3 percent of votes according to election officials in Sunday’s presidential runoff.

Her conservative Independent Democratic Union party opponent, Evelyn Matthei, garnered 37.7 percent of votes and has conceded the election.

In her victory speech, Bachelet promised to improve education and work for equality.

“Thanks to the millions of people who, today, have demonstrated with their vote that they believe in me — just like I believe in you,” she said.

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Bachelet, who is to take over from President Sebastian Pinera in March next year, was also the first woman to head the country’s Defence Ministry.

She ruled between 2006-2010 and left office with high approval ratings.

In 2010, she was appointed to head U.N. Women, a United Nations agency created to promote gender equality around the world.

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